If you’ve ever applied for a life insurance policy, signed up for your company’s 401(k) plan, or engaged in any other retirement planning, chances are you filled out a fair bit of paperwork along the way. From designating beneficiaries to selecting a premium schedule, retirement planning—and the paperwork that goes with it—can be quite time-consuming.
But when was the last time you looked at that paperwork? Are your beneficiary designations up-to-date? And what about your statements and premium notices—are they even being sent to the right address? Not knowing the answers to these questions can have drastic consequences.
One of our current cases involves a client whose husband recently passed away. Our client was the trustee of an insurance trust for the benefit of her children, and her husband had taken out a life insurance policy and made the insurance trust the policy’s beneficiary. The insurance trust did not receive a yearly premium notice in 2016 and subsequently missed its annual premium payment. The client’s husband passed away less than a month later and the insurance company refused to honor the policy. Now, the client is being forced litigate with the insurance company at a time when she has much more important things to worry about.
Fortunately, headaches like these can be avoided, but keeping current on your paperwork and obligations is crucial, particularly following a major life event such as a divorce, a death, or a move to a new address. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that your meticulous planning doesn’t get upended on a technicality:
- Keep your beneficiary designations up-to-date following events such as a divorce or a death.
- Update your address after any move.
- Calendar important events, such as premium due dates, policy renewal dates, etc., to remain current on your obligations even if you don’t receive your statement or premium notice.
- If available, enroll in automatic payment plans to remove the potential for missed obligations.
Has your retirement planning been put in jeopardy by a faulty beneficiary designation, an incorrect statement address, or some other paperwork discrepancy? The attorneys at Gaslowitz Frankel have decades of experience helping families resolve these issues. Contact us today for a consultation.
